


Penned with Love

by BaiTeasterKat



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Au where calianna and jester were kinda childhood friends and pen pals, College Au kinda?, F/F, There will be more characters but I will add them in as they show up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-08-10 04:28:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20129359
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BaiTeasterKat/pseuds/BaiTeasterKat
Summary: Jester Lavorre has settled in well in Zadash. She has a cool roommate and new friends. And she gets to hone her art. Yeah it sucks being away from her mother but they still write to each other. Jester thought this semester would be like the other ones in the past until she gets a letter from an old friend she nearly forgot about. Calianna and Jester start writing to each other once again and its just like when they were teens... right?{HAITUS AS OF 8/26/19}





	1. New Letter from an Old Friend

**Author's Note:**

> This is unbeta-ed! Welcome to my first multi-chaptered fic. I hope you enjoy. I love these girls so much.

Jester rolled her aching shoulders and stretched with a yawn as she stepped in front of the door to hers and Beau’s apartment. She pulled her key from her pastel donut lanyard. The blue tiefling shouldered her art portfolio as she opened the door. The handle always had to be lifted when you unlocked it. Zadash had been unusually warm this fall, so the door needed a shoulder check before it swung open. Jester’s hooves clicked on the tiles as she spilled into the apartment.  
“Socks!” Beau reminded Jester from the worn couch.  
“Got it,” Jester called back.   
She pulled a pair of once white socks with little lollipops on them from a key rack by the door. The apartment had tile in the entryway, kitchenette, and bathroom. The rest of the rooms were floorboards. The constant clicking would get on everyone’s nerves so it was either get a bunch of carpets or socks. Socks were the cheaper option; and the cuter one. Jester leaned the portfolio against the back of the couch and leaned over the top to look down at Beau. Beau was on her phone; appearing to be mildly interested as she scrolled.   
“What’s up Beau?” Jester asked.  
“Not much. Dairon assigned me another shitty essay,” Beau set her phone down to look up at Jester.  
“Wow, another one?” Jester blinked, “That’s like what three different essays you have to write?”  
“And two of them are them are from Dairon,” Beau bemoaned.   
“That sucks,” Jester leaned her head onto her palm, “I have studio work to do next week. My professor wants me to redo my sketches before I do my sculpture. Apparently they’re ‘over ambitious’.”  
“They just can’t handle your designs,” Beau smirked.  
Jester nodded, “The world isn’t ready for the Traveller and his army of unicorn hamsters.”  
Beau had the decency to hide her laugh before sitting up, “I gotta start on those papers. You can have the rest of my dinner if you want.”  
“You ate without me?” Jester pouted.  
“It’s past seven,” Beau sighed, “I didn’t know when you would be back from that meeting.”  
Jester bounced back on her feet and made her way to the fridge, “It’s okay, Beau.”  
“Oh hey Jess, before I forget, you got a letter. I put it on your bed,” Beau looked back to her before booting up her laptop.   
Jester retrieved the takeout box before prancing over to hers and Beau’s room. Technically the apartment had two bedrooms but the second one became a mini art studio/ workout room. Beau’s side of the room would certainly be called neater but that’s only because Beau decided to follow some new house cleaning tips for the new semester. Jester expected it wouldn’t be long before Beau’s side of the room becomes a labyrinth of print outs, textbooks and coffee mugs. Beau had decorated her room with tones of blue, the colors of the Cobalt Soul. Jester’s side on the room looked like a cotton candy tornado had rolled through. Her bedding was in pastels and had not been made since Jester had rolled out this morning. Her plush weasel, Sprinkle, and plush dog, Nugget, were the only thing not knotted up the comforter. A corkboard with all kinds of flyers and papers were pinned over her bed. She had started collecting all kinds of advertisements and postcards since she left Nicodranas. It was color coordinated and served as a reminder of how far she had come.  
Just as Beau said, there was an envelope on her pillow. It was thick and yellowed with a worn stamp with a lizard on it. Her old address at the Lavish Chateau was written in fading fancy handwriting. Her own mother’s handwriting wrote out her new address which the letter had been forwarded to. Jester had hoped it had been another letter from her mother but now she was curious of who could have written to her. Jester sat onto the bed and opened the envelope. Inside was a letter written in the same handwriting as before.   
~~  
Hi Jester!  
This is Calianna, your scaley pen pal! I hope you still remember me. I hope its okay that I still write to you after so long. Hopefully this won’t bother you too much. I loved having a pen pal and writing letters are so much fun!  
Sorry for taking so long to write back to you. It has to have been about… five years I believe since my last letter. I got really busy around that time which didn’t allow for much writing. I had to hide out from some not so savory folks. I’m okay now but wanted to reach out to you.  
I miss you so much! Remember when you took me out for pastries when we met up face to face the first time? It was the nicest thing anyone has done for me. Even if I scalded my tongue on the bun. I don’t think we can meet up anytime soon so I hope writing letters would suffice.   
I have been traveling quite a bit these days. There are some people who are pretty mad at me so I have to move around a lot. I haven’t seen any sign of them lately so I think its safe to write to you again. That and I am looking for some important relics but it seems like they are pretty spread out. Its a lot of walking and hitchhiking but so far its been nice. People still tend to stay away from me due to… well how I look. It makes me appreciate how cool you thought my scales are. Even if the people aren’t the warmest; the different places I get to go to are really cool. Everywhere is a little different and special in their own way. I even spent time in a swamp and saw a huge crocodile. I wish there was a better way to show you but unfortunately I can’t draw as well as you can.   
My sewing has gotten a little better. I’ve fixed up one of my old skirts not to long ago. Are you still drawing? I bet you have gotten amazing with drawing since last time. Have you picked up any new hobbies? How are things? Are you still living with your mom? Marion was really nice; tell her hi for me!   
I’ll try to see if I can manage to come back to Nicodranas but I’m pretty busy. I hope we can start writing again, only if you want to of course! I would love to hear more about your life and how you have been. What have you been up to? Have you made any new friends? You are so nice and friendly so I bet you have lots. Don’t forget your bestie! Well, only if you still want to be best friends still. I haven’t been the bestest best friend so I understand if you got a new one.  
Write at your convenience. You can send your letter to the return address on the back. I shouldn’t be leaving too soon.   
Yours,  
Calianna.   
~~  
Jester’s eyes widened as she finished up the letter. She couldn’t believe she almost forgot about Calianna after all that has been going on. Around when Jester had been thirteen, or was it fourteen, a group of nobles had set up a pen pal program to strengthen ties between people and better people’s writing. It didn’t last long as a lot of important weren’t as interested as they had planned. Still, Jester met Calianna through the pen pal program. The two wrote to each other constantly for about two, maybe more, years. Calianna visited Nicodranas once and it had been one of the best days in Jester’s life. She got to hang out with another kid around her age. They had gotten pastries together and bought some books together. At the Lavish Chateau, they stayed up all night playing games neither of them got to play before due to them both not having many friends.   
Calianna stopped writing back at some point and Jester gave up trying to get in contact. In Jester’s mind, she had lost a friend. Years passed and the nonsense with Lord Sharpe happened. Jester left Nicodranas, made new friends and enrolled into college in Zadash. That day with Calianna seems so long ago now.   
“Hey Jess, is my charger cord in here?” Beau walked in and looked up from her laptop, “Jess? Are you okay?”  
Jester rubbed her face to stop the incoming tears, “Oh me? Yeah I’m great.”  
Beau looked at her intensely, “So what was the letter about?”  
Jester blink and held up the paper, “Oh! Yeah its from my old friend Calianna.”  
The human monk tilted her head, “Calianna?”  
“We were pen pals when I was growing up,” Jester explained, “Calianna is part dragon and is really cool. Well not cooler than you, Beau.”  
“Part dragon?” Beau repeated.  
“OH! I have to write her back immediately,” Jester dived off the bed.  
She started sorting through the endless papers, sketchbooks, pens, and candy wrappers to try to find the stationary. She was sure she still had it. Beau sat back on her bed and plugged in her laptop. She watched the frantic Jester, swallowing her questions until Jester settled down. 


	2. Library Cat

Hiya Jester!  
Thank you so much for replying! It’s your good friend Calianna, if you couldn’t tell. You must be so busy so it means a lot to hear from you. I don’t mind waiting for letters and you didn’t need to buy new stationary for me. Well I couldn’t keep sending you ugly letters on thick parchment I found. So I also picked up some new stationary. It isn’t as cute as yours but I hope you like the border. It isn’t as cute as the pastels and lollipops but I like it. It reminds me of ribbons. Oh, let me know if you like the perfume I used. I don’t want to keep using it if its irritating.   
Unfortunately, I don’t in fact have a phone but I will keep your number in case I get to use one. Turns out phone companies don’t like it when you travel a lot and try to obscure where you go most of the time. I hope sending letters isn’t inconvenient for you.  
It’s so cool that you get to go to college! I considered it but I move around too much and that keeps money tight. Tell me how it is! I want to hear all about your classes. I figured a Fine Arts degree would suit you, you must be great in those classes. I wish I could see your drawings now.  
Your friends seem really cool and you have so many now. It makes me happy that you aren’t nearly alone as we were growing up. Keep in mind that I’m always there. I can try to manage a trip if you need my help. If I end up in Zadash, you’ll have to introduce them to me. Beau seems especially interesting. I didn’t know library assistants could do cool martial arts and parkour.   
Lately I have been looking into magic. You already know I get some magic from my draconic ancestor. I want to learn more about my magic and get better at it. The better I am at magic, then the better I will be at defending myself. I don’t like fighting particularly but unfortunately the Caustic Heart are pretty dangerous. So I have been trying to visit libraries lately. Libraries are pretty great. There’s free books and normally you can stay there for however long you want. So far nothing has been helpful but I’m still hopeful.  
Oh! Before I forget, I included a little pouch with this letter. It’s not the prettiest but I made it myself. A nice older lady showed me how to make one. The ribbon that pulls it close is one of my own. It is kinda small but I hope you can find some use for it.  
Yours,   
Calianna.   
~~  
Jester hadn’t imagine using the university library much at all until she started attending. The first time she was dropping off Beau’s student ID after she left it in their room. Well, technically her first time in the library was a tour but she didn’t count it. She came more often as she and Beau became closer friends. It helped that the library had a small cafe inside. It wasn’t as good as Clay’s but she might be biased since Caduceus helps run it.  
It was through frequent visits that she wore down Caleb’s social walls. The two became friends much to his chagrin. Caleb was reshelving his section of the library. The coffee Jester had bought for him was sitting on the bottom of the cart. Jester was sitting on the carpet; fussing over Frumpkin.  
“So are you just here to pet Frumpkin?” Caleb finally asked.  
“And if I was?” Jester said cheekily.  
Caleb shrugged and shelved another book.  
Jester pouted slightly before perking back up, “Actually I wanted to ask if there were any books that talk about magic.”  
“There are quite a few books that theorize about different kinds of magic and the...ah mechanics behind it,” Caleb glanced down at her before picking up another book, “What makes you ask? Don’t you have some magic that comes from devotion?”  
“Oh yeah, the Traveler is awesome! I get to have spells without having to study all the time like you,” Jester smiled.  
Caleb rolled his eyes, “Some of us like books.”  
“I also like books! Just not… text books,” Jester said indignantly.  
Caleb reached down to give Frumpkin a scritch.  
“I was asking for a friend, anyways,” Jester stood up.   
“A friend? Another undergrad student I suppose,” Curiousity snuck into Caleb’s voice.   
“No, an old pen pal of mine. My first friend I guess,” Jester replied.  
“I thought Fjord was your first friend,”  
Jester shrugged, “Well he’s first friend after leaving Nicodranas.”  
Jester never really reflected on that. Calianna had been her first friend. Marion was a great mama and always cared for her but that’s because they are family. Bluud was always willing to spend time teaching her games and teaching her how to lift. Bluud however, had done that because he was her nanny. Calianna had been the first person to talk to her and spend time without _having_ to.  
“So who is this friend?” Caleb asked after taking a sip of his coffee.  
“Oh!” Jester blinked, startled out of her thoughts, “Her name is Calianna and she is part elf and part dragon. She’s really cool looking with badass scales and has some magic herself.”  
Caleb gave her a quizzical look, “Part-dragon?”  
“Yeah, Caleb. Its super cool. She’s cute and has a nice singing voice… or at least she did last time we met,” Jester said defensively.  
“From my understanding dragons are rather… ah arcane creatures. Not made from magic obviously but some of their abilities…,” Caleb trailed off.  
Caleb tilted his head in the way that he did when he was thinking. His eyes glazed over and he gave a hand-wave. Frumpkin suddenly got up and started padded away to another book shelf. Jester tried to track where the cat was going but he was a speedy kitty.   
“There is a book on the basics of magic. Pretty much an intro into the magical arts,” Caleb started speaking.  
He blinked and shook himself out of his trance, “Is that helpful?”  
“Can I check it out?”  
Caleb smiled, bemused, “Of course.”   
Jester followed Frumpkin’s meows until she found the book in question. She glanced over the book and figured she could find some time to at least skim it. She gave Frumpkin a kiss on the top of his head. The blue tiefling gave Caleb a wave as she walked towards the circulation desk.  
“Thank you Caleb!” She called back.  
Caleb waved back before going back to tending to his section.  
She slid the book and her student ID towards the brown elf behind the desk. The elf glanced up from her computer.  
“Jester,” The elf said.  
“Yes, Dairon?” Jester said sweetly.  
Beau’s mentor was intimidating, even to Jester. Not that stopped Jester from trying to be her friendly bubbly self. She personally thought eventually she could wear down Dairon’s icy exterior. Beau didn’t agree.  
“Please keep your voice down, at least a little more. I get that you’re excitable but some students are trying to study,” Dairon stated.  
Jester nodded.  
Dairon scanned in the book and card, “The book are due in the next two weeks. You can renew it at any time.”  
“Thank you,” Jester said cherrily and started to take back her ID.  
“Also, please remind Beau that she needs to make up the days she was sick for,” Dairon said, “Enjoy your book.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed! College started up so I am planning on posting bi-weekly on Thursdays. Hopefully that way I will have time to write some buffer chapters.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this through! I will be adding to this as I can. I have an outline but otherwise I am winging it. Please leave kudos and comments if you liked it. :)


End file.
